Canada threatens sanctions if Russia disrupts peace in Ukraine as U.S. warns sending troops would be 'grave mistake'

Canada is prepared to enact sanctions against Russia if it moves to rekindle violence in Ukraine, Canada’s immigration minister said Sunday.

Meanwhile, White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the U.S. will work with European partners to help finance Ukraine’s economic recovery, and warned Russia that any insertion of its troops would be “a grave mistake.”

In an interview with CTV’s Question Period, Chris Alexander said Canada is watching the situation in Ukraine closely for evidence of cross-border influence from Russian President Vladimir Putin, and it won’t hesitate to act if necessary.

“If someone from outside, including Russia, including Vladimir Putin, tries to introduce violence back to the equation that’s … going to be a very dangerous development,” he said. “But it’s going to be unacceptable to Ukrainians and all of their allies around the world.”

With Ukraine’s president in hiding and its future uncertain after months of protests and a fragile peace agreement, Rice delivered a two-pronged message in a televised interview today, pledging assistance for a transitional government while urging a cessation of violence by both sides.

If Putin sends troops into Ukraine, “that would be a grave mistake,” Rice said on NBC’s Meet the Press program. “It’s not in the interests of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or of the United States to see the country split. It’s in nobody’s interest to see violence return and the situation escalate.”

Canada and other Ukrainian allies have many tools at their disposal, including economic sanctions and travel restrictions, to dissuade outside countries from attempting to disrupt the tenuous peace achieved after a week that saw dozens of Ukrainians killed in violent antigovernment protests and the ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych. At stake is Ukraine’s economic and political allegiance.

The unrest marks the bloodiest episode of the country’s post-World War II history. The crisis erupted Nov. 21 when Yanukovych rejected an integration pact with the European Union and opted instead for $15 billion of Russian aid. Violence intensified last week in Kyiv amid frustration among protesters that their demands for governance changes were being ignored. Clashes in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, have killed at least 82 people.

Sunday marked a reprieve from the violence in Kyiv’s central square following the release of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and a government agreement to hold elections this spring. But the country remains divided along geographic lines, with the east generally identifying with neighbouring Russia and the west looking to align with the European Union.

A peace agreement signed on Feb. 21 calls for a national unity government. Ukrainian lawmakers voted yesterday to remove Yanukovych, who had left the capital, and to hold elections May 25.

That leaves the door open for Russia to reassert its influence in a possible power vacuum, which has many international observers concerned it may lead to more violence in the former Soviet satellite.

“They need to reform and they need financing,” Rice said of a transition government. “The United States will play a role, along with our partners in Europe.”

She said the International Monetary Fund would be a key player in any financing agreement, and that Russia also may participate.

Alexander said so far Canadian travel bans have been levied against members of Yanukovych’s administration, but Canada will be watching Russia closely.

“We’ve been looking so far at Ukrainians because it has been Ukrainian security forces that are responsible for most of the violence,” he said. “But if there was interference across the border in Europe at this time, that would be a completely different situation and we’d have to look at our options. But the response would be very strong.”

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement Saturday the weekend’s developments were an “important step away from violence” and called on all political sides to honour the agreement to move forward peacefully toward electing a new government. Canadian measures against Yanukovych’s officials will remain in place until “we are certain that the Yanukovych regime is listening to the call of its people and fully following the path to democracy that it has committed to,” he said. “The unity of the Ukrainian people is fundamental at this juncture. Canada stands firmly behind the people of Ukraine, and we will work tirelessly to help rebuild the country in support of its peaceful, European future.”

Standard & Poor’s warned on Feb. 21 that Ukraine risks default without “significantly favorable changes” in its political crisis and cut its credit rating to CCC, eight levels below investment grade. Russia has halted its $15 billion bailout because of the unrest.

The U.S. Senate’s No. 2 Democratic leader, Richard Durbin of Illinois, said he spoke yesterday with opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, the ex-premier who returned to the political stage after being released from a prison hospital.

“She assured me that she’s looking for a peaceful resolution to the problems in Ukraine, to follow the constitution and the law,” Durbin said today on “Fox News Sunday.”

Echoing Rice’s call for U.S. assistance, Durbin said, “We have to combine our efforts with the European Union to help Ukraine move forward in a peaceful, democratic way. We have to put the pressure on Putin to stop his efforts to undermine this natural evolution toward democracy. And Yanukovych has always been a puppet of Moscow.”

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who serves on the Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. must make clear to Putin that “a partition of the country would not be acceptable” and he must “let the Ukrainian people determine their own future.”

McCain, who visited Ukraine recently and talked with opposition leaders, said the U.S. will need to provide some economic assistance.

“Their economic situation is so dire that literally their economy is on the verge of collapse,” McCain said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program today. “They’re going to need help immediately.”

Rice’s appearance today marked her first Sunday television interview since her widely criticized performance on all five network shows following the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks on a U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Rice, in those interviews less than a week after the attacks, said the assault stemmed from a spontaneous protest over an anti-Islamic video that spiraled out of control. There was no protest at the U.S. mission that day and the administration revised its initial assessment about two weeks later to say the assault was “a deliberate and organized terrorist attack.”

The controversy effectively derailed Rice’s consideration to be the next secretary of state, following the departure of Hillary Clinton.

Asked about the controversy today, Rice said she had conveyed “the best information I had at the time,” which “turned out in some respects not to be 100 percent correct.” She said accusations that she misled the public are “patently false.”